The military is so eager to put war machines in cops’ hands that it doesn’t bother making sure they’re, you know, actually cops.Police in a U.S. city, or soldiers occupying a foreign one? In Ferguson, MO, in 2014, it was often hard to tell. CREDIT: AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, FileWant some surplus military hardware? Hankering for simulation rifles and pipe bombs that can be easily converted to active … [Read more...]

Nothing will fix Chicago’s broken police-citizen relationship overnight, but a new conspiracy case could be an important first step.Special prosecutor Patricia Brown Holmes announces conspiracy charges against three Chicago police officers for their alleged cover-up of the truth about a 2014 on-duty killing. CREDIT: AP Photo/G-Jun YamChicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke is still awaiting trial … [Read more...]

St. Anthony, MN — population 9,007 — spends roughly that much each year to have its own police force.Valerie Castile, second from left, marches alongside the casket of her son Philando during his funeral last summer. CREDIT: AP Photo/Jim MoneValerie Castile will receive nearly $3 million from the city of St. Anthony, Minnesota, family lawyers announced Monday.The payment preempts a wrongful death … [Read more...]

Wide array of unconstitutional tactics alleged in suit over chilling round-up that hit peaceful protesters, journalists, and anarchists alike.Cameras, gas, and chaos on Inauguration Day in Washington, D.C. CREDIT: AP Photo/Mark TenallyWhen black-clad marchers began smashing windows in Washington, D.C., on Inauguration Day, the city’s police force — reputedly the best in the country at upholding … [Read more...]

Replacing Preet Bharara in New York is Trump’s most important pick. He’s still stalling.Fired U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, who has still not been replaced three months later. CREDIT: AP Photo/Kathy WillensNearly three months after firing every U.S. Attorney appointed by his predecessor, President Donald Trump finally nominated his first batch of replacements … [Read more...]

The green rush won’t last forever. But it looks far from over.State agricultural regulators tour a cannabis growing facility in Colorado in January. CREDIT: AP Photo/Kristen WyattThree years, billions of dollars, and thousands of new jobs into Colorado’s legal marijuana experiment, we’re still nowhere near the economic ceiling of retail cannabis.New monthly revenue figures indicate the state is on … [Read more...]

Timothy Loehmann is off the street, but technically it’s not because he killed a 12-year-old.A protester holds a sign commemorating slain Tamir Rice. CREDIT: AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, FileCleveland Police Officer Timothy Loehmann was fired Tuesday morning by city officials, nearly two years after he shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice outside a recreation center in the city.Loehmann’s partner … [Read more...]

Sheriff Clarke’s lawyers say the man shook his head in “a physically threatening manner.”Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke. CREDIT: AP Photo/Susan Walsh)Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke is reportedly under consideration for a top job in President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security.But while Clarke is an appalling choice to moderates and progressives because of his long track … [Read more...]

Jeff Sessions goes soft on Wall Street and tough on minor drug offenses.Attorney General Jeff Sessions, right, and President Donald Trump have pledged a return to old hardline law enforcement practices — but not for white-collar crime. CREDIT: AP Photo/Evan VucciThe government has agreed not to prosecute Citigroup’s Mexico-based subsidiary despite damning evidence it aided a cross-border … [Read more...]

Austerity’s violence, aimed at hollow stomachs.A volunteer distributes bread at a food bank in Ohio. CREDIT: AP Photo/Mark Duncan, FilePresident Donald Trump wants Congress to slash federal support for food assistance to the poorest Americans by some 25 percent over the next decade, the White House budget unveiled Tuesday shows.Such a deep cut could be backbreaking for the more than 40 million … [Read more...]

Spain received a warning in May that the Islamic State group was planning an attack in Barcelona but decided it lacked credibility, Catalan regional authorities said Thursday. The daily El … [Read More...]

A company that suffered an explosion at a chemical plant close to Houston has said it “fully expects” more fires - potentially as many as eight - as a result of flooding overwhelming the … [Read More...]

Mosques across the state of Texas are being turned into shelters for the victims of Hurricane Harvey. The Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH), which represents 21 Islamic centres in … [Read More...]

White House

Police in the northern Spanish city of Barcelona say a white van has jumped the sidewalk in the city’s historic Las Ramblas district, injuring several people. Police cordoned off the broad … [Read More...]

A white supremacist who helped organise the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, has appeared on camera crying as he describes his fear of arrest. Chris Cantwell, a racist … [Read More...]

Supreme Court

New York MagazineFive Years Later, States That Rejected the Medicaid Expansion May Get Their RewardNew York Magazine... that Just Said No will be (relatively speaking) rewarded. We would not … [Read More...]

NewsweekPort of Seattle files US Supreme Court brief opposing travel banKent ReporterThe Port of Seattle has filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court, urging the court to … [Read More...]